Currently, many vehicle body parts such as body panels are manufactured by a stamping process. For malleable metals such as aluminum, imperfections such as splits created during the stamping process are a concern.
For example, during the manufacture of a side body panel including a fuel filler housing opening typically a flange is created to allow attachment of an ornamental fuel housing thereto. This provides a recessed mounting surface disposed surrounding the fuel filler opening for attachment of a hinged fuel filler door, whereby when closed the fuel filler door is flush with a side of the body panel. During the manufacture of such parts by stamping processes, it was found that the flange created was prone to splitting. To reduce this tendency to split, it was found that the created flange length dimension had to be reduced. However, the reduced length flange then required a reduced size of attachment clips used for attaching the fuel filler housing to the flange, reducing the strength of the attachment and causing aesthetic issues leading to consumer dissatisfaction.
Accordingly, a need is identified in the art for improvements to devices for attaching fuel filler housings to fuel filler housing openings, particularly in body panels made of malleable metals such as aluminum. To address this identified need, the present disclosure is directed to a fuel filler housing opening insert for attaching to a body panel fuel filler housing opening.